Comparing GalCiv III with GalCiv II: what happened to the planetary micromanagement and gameplay?

from GalCiv3 Forums

Hi folks,

 

I was an avid GalCiv II player back in the day. Probably my favourite computer game ever. 

 

I just bought and started playing GalCiv III which has been out for a while now. My first impressions are that the graphics have been greatly improved but the gameplay has not. 

 

I believe GalCiv II or III is basically Risk in space. The enjoyment of the game comes from marshalling all the resources, strategies and variables a player has and pitting them against the AI or now other players. But the features which I loved about GlaCiv II and made the game a great playing experience - unique every time a new game was loaded and so an endless amount of replayability - seem to have gone. 

 

Planetary management not only made the game great in terms of playability as you attempted to defeat your enemies by stealing an edge when you could and then dealing with whatever economic disasters, like war, befell you, but just as importantly gave players a sense of ownership over their colonies. To me this was a vital part of what made the game great. My colonies were like children or perhaps Pokemon pets. I would revel at their successes and mourn when I lost them to enemies. Discovering new colonies with unusual or interesting planetary features that I could exploit to their best advantage was at best like searching for India and discovering instead the Americas or at worst like the opening seen of Alien. I got invested in those colonies. I loved naming them, just as I would a Pokemon pet, and watching them thrive. 

 

In GalCiv III I can't rename the stars? Why?

 

Far worse all the micromanagement seems gone. I have no control over spending. Spending was an essential part of gameplay. 

 

Of course with no concentrated spending on ships or to make ships in shipyards there is perhaps less need for control over spending.

 

Now colonies seem to have to build improvements. Why? Again with no control over spending there seems less need to stop building and accrue finances. 

 

Shipyards have to be building ships. Why? This seems again to make gameplay easier at the expense of playability for the same reason. 

 

I hope these features return in patches or with expansions.

 

I feel that currently the game has become less than GalCiv II.

 

There were certainly some features of micromanagement in GalCiv II that could have been streamlined - such as starbase upgrades - but THIS GAME IS MICROMANAGMENT. Ships are the most important part of the game sure but they are just the most important third - the other thirds being planets and stars, and factions.

 

The more control the player has over these the better. The ships are awesome. Give us some more playability on planets please!

 

Cheers

10,164 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I feel that GCII is a more engaging game than GCIII as well.

I've never been able to pin point why, but I think a reasonable comparison is that GCII is to GCIII as CivIV is to Civ V.

 

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hey man!

 

No need for double post. Also- welcome to the community.

first of all- this has been already covered- we have numerous posts, streams- you name it- you can dig answers yourself, but in short:

Gal civ 3 is not Gal civ 2, sure they both come from same lore but gal civ 3 is a sequel to gal civ 2, totally different game- let go the past- let go the bias.

 

Now to your questions:

 

* Gal civ 3 is a huge sandbox game- how you play it is entirely up to you. You can change victory conditions on fly. You can set up or dl maps how you want them.

* Planetary micromanagement was hell, though if you want it back- there is  a special building you build and you can manually micro each planet to your hearts content. Hell- make a custom race with manually controlling over planets and you got yourself a months game here.

* You can rename them, just they are on a separate file. Cant do it ingame(might change in future). You might even find my planet name somewhere there, there was a special promo for naming stars.
* About spending- you have option to micro it- its just different than in gal civ 2.

* Have you noticed government tools? You can adjust spending for ships, buildings etc.

* This was a design chocie. Lots of talk in alpha stage- we the founders and the Stardock team made this decision. So for the better or worse it worked for the greater good. Improvements have bonuses, adjacencies and you can do lots of cool stuff with it. Its better than in gal civ 2, not perfect, but better.

* Syipyards also was a joint decision in Alpha between Founders and team- actually Founders made the idea in first place- so- blame us. For all intent you can do lots of cool stuff with shipyards(did you know they can move?)

* These features wont return as you have to remember gal civ 3 =/ gal civ 2. Seriously- let go the past. And modifications are being made constantly. Gal civ 3 is not fully finished- lots of cool stuff in future- for example- spying, comanders, expansion and so on and forth.

 

All in all- before you post- do some homework. The Gal civ 3 you are playing now is the joint ddecision of trial and error of Founders and Stardock design team. Most changes are for the better and greater good. To me you are saying there is no micro- well there is plenty of micro- the tools are there- just do your homework. Its diffrent but gal civ 3 expands on that what gal civ 2 couldn't do possibly. And its still being evolved.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hello Bren,

 

I believe the stars cannot be renamed because Stardock allowed Founders to get their name on a star at some point, at least before I started playing during the open beta. These are randomly generated from what I can tell. You can rename the planets you control at least, it is under the Govern Planet button on the bottom left.

 

Shipyards and planets are not required to be building assets. Planets can be set to push their production to other means, such as supporting the shipyard or gaining a bonus to growth. Shipyards have a deactivate button under the ship list.

 

I am normally loathe to weigh in against posts in this forum, because that doesn't seem very helpful in encouraging new ideas. However, I very much disagree with this portion:


There were certainly some features of micromanagement in GalCiv II that could have been streamlined - such as starbase upgrades - but THIS GAME IS MICROMANAGMENT. Ships are the most important part of the game sure but they are just the most important third - the other thirds being planets and stars, and factions.
End of quote

 

The best part of this game depends on whom you ask. There have been many back and forth discussions about the demise of the planetary wheel, and I suspect you would enjoy using it. There are instructions on how to get to it in another section that escapes my memory at the moment. My point is that I never used the planetary wheel because the micro was painful for me. I like feeling like an emperor, not an accountant. The most important feature to me was designing useful ships and countering the builds my enemies used, as opposed to having only pre-made units like in CivV.

 

Try re-enabling the planetary wheel, and see if that improves your personal enjoyment of this game.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quick reply -  apologies for the double post, I hadn't realised I had done that. 

 

Thanks Zingo, I'll def have a look at your suggestions. 

 

You are right of course EazyWin, the best part of a game is the favourite part of whoever plays. Shipbuilding is obviously a favourite for a lot of people. I suppose I was just meaning that the enjoyment of the game comes from the all the details. Especially since the game is not an arcade shoot em up. 

 

I didn't know I could enable the planetary wheel. How do I do that? 

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Bren0Bone, reply 4

Quick reply -  apologies for the double post, I hadn't realised I had done that. 

 

Thanks Zingo, I'll def have a look at your suggestions.

You are right of course EazyWin, the best part of a game is the favourite part of whoever plays. Shipbuilding is obviously a favourite for a lot of people. I suppose I was just meaning that the enjoyment of the game comes from the all the details. Especially since the game is not an arcade shoot em up. 

I didn't know I could enable the planetary wheel. How do I do that? 
End of Bren0Bone's quote

 

Alright- there are 3 ways to do so

1. Ingame: If you research "Interstellar Governance" you unlock "Bureau of Labor" building, which gives you back the old wheel.

2. If you make a custom race, go to "Traits & Abilities" and check "Coercive", it will give old wheel from get go.

3.   Permanently from desktop:

  • Start the game once to get the new pref change
  • Quit the game
  • Go to My Games\GalCiv3
  • Open Prefs.ini
  • Change UseColonyProductionWheel from 0 to 1
  • Start GalCiv3

 

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Zingo has it exactly right, with minor caveats. Option 1 will unlock the wheel on that specific planet, and it uses a tile to do so. Option 2 unlocks it for your custom civ but it takes a trait point. Option 3 will allow you to use it on any race, even pre-set ones if you don't wish to make a new one, and it doesn't use tiles or trait points.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting zingo77, reply 5

Alright- there are 3 ways to do so


1. Ingame: If you research "Interstellar Governance" you unlock "Bureau of Labor" building, which gives you back the old wheel.

2. If you make a custom race, go to "Traits & Abilities" and check "Coercive", it will give old wheel from get go.

3.   Permanently from desktop:

 

    • Start the game once to get the new pref change

 

    • Quit the game

 

    • Go to My Games\GalCiv3

 

    • Open Prefs.ini

 

    • Change UseColonyProductionWheel from 0 to 1

 

    • Start GalCiv3
End of zingo77's quote

 

And 4. Edit Galcivglobaldefs.xml in notepad, find <PlanetaryProductionWheelImprovement> and set it to ColonyCapital

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I take it back, Gal Civ 3 is every bit as good as Gal Civ 2!